Walmart, Target among most popular retailers to offer BOPIS

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Dive Brief:

Target and Walmart are among the most popular retailers that offer buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) services to consumers, Coresight Research noted in a recent report emailed to Retail Dive. The report found that about 50% of U.S. consumers who use BOPIS have picked up goods from Walmart in the past year, and about 34% have done so at Target.

Coresight cited a National Retail Federation (NRF) study indicating that while 64% of consumers used BOPIS to avoid shipping costs, 37% of shoppers used BOPIS get their goods faster and 36% say they use BOPIS for promotional offers or discounts. The report also cites research from OrderDynamics, Bell and Howell, and IHL Group, which found that retailers using automated pickup saw an in 28% improvement in pickup time. Walmart saw a 60% pickup time improvement, the report noted.

Per a Signifyd Survey cited in the Coresight report, about 46% of retailer respondents said that logistics and inventory tracking is the most challenging obstacle when offering BOPIS, but nearly 22% cited staff management and training. Another 16% pointed to fraud and customer information security as the biggest obstacle.

Dive Insight:

Though Walmart and Target are leading the way in BOPIS adoption, other retailers, including rue21 and Nordstrom, have begun offering or expanded their existing BOPIS option to strengthen their omnichannel strategies. Target and Walmart's jump in pickup time after implementing automated pickup is another sign that BOPIS can drive foot traffic to brick-and-mortar stores.

BOPIS is mutually beneficial for both retailers and customers. For one thing, BOPIS can be a critical tool for shoppers to skip long lines during the holiday season. Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar retailers can turn their stores into fulfillment centers or distribution hubs, Coresight's report notes.

Introducing BOPIS can give brick-and-mortar stores a competitive advantage over online-only retailers, per the report, but they'll need to find and implement the right technology, quality staff, worker training and automation to offer BOPIS seamlessly.